My 2019 World Cruise on Silversea was 4 1/2 months of amazing, but it didn’t cover everything. Look at my Index if you are new to my blog. Places I’d still like to cruise/visit include:
- South America – now scheduled for 2023
- Japan – The four days I spent in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo just weren’t enough.
- India – I expect some long excursions deep into the nation
- Easter Island
- Galapagos Islands
Now, it turns out that Silversea offers a new option for the Galapagos, the Silver Origin. This ship is smaller than the Silver Whisper (my World Cruise ship) – only 100 guests (5,800 tons) compared to 382 guests (28,258 tons). It only cruises the Galapagos; no other “ports”. And I have ports in quotes because it never docks in a port. All entry/exit on/off the ship is done via Zodiac.
This is a different kind of cruising. Silversea calls it “expeditions“, the expectation is guests get a bit more down and dirty. It seems successful, as Silversea has four ships dedicated to this concept. Many focus on polar regions with ships equipped with strengthened hulls for sailing in ice covered waters.
Now, I’m not looking to trudge thru the snow and get attacked by carnivorous penguins and gangs of baby seals. But for some reason visiting the Galapagos has been on my to-do list. With my 2022 South America cruise postponed, this seems like a great time to do this.
So I am going to spend two weeks island-hoping the Galapagos with Silversea this June. They continually offer one-week cruises with alternating itineraries, so I will experience both. There are different expectations for a two week cruise vs 3-to-4 months (no formal nights), and I will need to start training on hiking with a pack. My 10 years in the Army was 20 years ago.
Stay tuned!